Wealth inequality in Germany has increased since the end of 2022 – Economy

The wealth inequality in Germany According to the Bundesbank, it has increased slightly again since the end of 2022. “The reason for this is that the net assets of wealthier households have recently developed somewhat differently than those of wealthier households,” says an excerpt from the monthly report published in advance on Monday. This is primarily due to the different composition of the net assets and the different development of its components – i.e. financial portfolio, real estate assets, business assets and liabilities.

According to the Bundesbank, the growth in net assets has declined sharply across all asset groups since the end of 2021: “In particular, the growth rate of the net assets of the half with fewer assets fell relatively sharply.” The main reason is that insurance claims have fallen sharply due to valuation changes. At the same time, the liabilities for this asset group fell, which in turn supported the net assets since the beginning of 2023. The strong increase in deposits has also recently had a supportive effect. According to the Bundesbank, the growth rate of the net assets of the wealthiest percent of the distribution fell at a similar rate to that of the wealthier half. Here, a significant decline in the holdings of capital market-based forms of investment and real estate assets initially had a dampening effect: “However, since the beginning of 2023, the holdings of bonds and investment fund shares have increased noticeably, so that the development of the financial portfolio recently contributed to a significant valuation-related increase in net assets.”